The Manhattan Tunnels Contract is the first of three major design-build contracts to hit the streets for the new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, also known as Access to the Regions Core (ARC) and the Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel Project.

The contract, with an estimated value of $500 million, includes construction of a 160ft diameter x 160ft deep shaft using slurry wall construction, excavation of 19,000ft of TBM bored tunnels through hard rock ( four tunnel drives), five cross passages, a cavern construction of the Warrington Interlocking, plus utility and sitework.

Running roughly 150ft below the surface, the tunnels will extend about 5,200ft from the shaft at Twelfth Avenue and 28th Street in

ARC contracts

Manhattan. The two tunnels will proceed diagonally northeast, and split into four tunnels within two cavern structures beneath the two New York City blocks bounded by the intersections of 28th and 29th Streets and Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues. The four tunnels turn eastward at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 34th Street and run directly below 34th Street through the future New York Penn Station Expansion (NYPSE) cavern to Sixth Avenue.

Sealed bids will be received by New Jersey Transit’s Procurement Department until 2pm on September 22, 2009, then publicly read aloud for the final design and construction of the Manhattan Tunnels portion of the project.

Invitation for bids is a two-phase process with the first being the
prequalification of contractors. The second phase will consist of two steps: the submission of a technical proposal followed by the submission of a firm fixed-price fixed-price bid.

The procurement process for the remaining two tunneling contracts is scheduled to begin this year. The Palisades Tunnel Contract, with an estimated value of $250 million, includes about 5,200ft of twin-bored tunnels under the New Jersey Palisades. The Hudson Tunnel Contract, with an estimated value of $500 million, includes 7,500ft of soft ground tunnels under the Hudson River.

The entire rail project, with some 3.7 miles of tunnels, is anticipated to cost $8.7 billion dollars and be in service by 2018.